BHUJBALVIEW

The most frequently asked question about social media is – how soon could I recover my investment in it?

The question itself, in my opinion, is wrong. Social media is no antibiotic drug that would derive a particular outcome in a prescribed period of time. So my advice to all of you is to keep the following things (in no particular order) in mind while investing in social media:

Social media will not give your company or your brand immediate answers/ results.

It is only after, say, a period of 3 to 4 years that the results of relentless engagement would emerge. Throughout this period, the personality of the company or brand, that is being promoted, should be showcased to the audience. This personality could be displayed through opinions held by the brand, comments made by the brand, issues it stands for, commitments it makes & so on.

You have to build a large active community.

This is the means to the end. In the absence of a large community that likes the brand or stands for it & so on, one will not be able to influence many people.

Don’t sell to your community.

You can become a huge community only if people like your brand or like the cause you are supporting, but if these same people, even as much, smell a glimpse of the fact that you are just trying to sell something online (even if what you are selling is really good!) they will move on & you would have lost your reputation.

This is why you would have noticed that few of the biggest bloggers, while complementing a brand or suggesting its use, put in a disclaimer if that brand is their client or if in any way they are associated with it.

The amount of money to be invested in social media depends on the belief you have in it.

I believe that there is a social customer who has evolved these days. He/she researches online before buying a product or service, in many cases buys the product or service online & if he/she has any complaints against it, he/she expresses that online too. More & more companies & brands itself are forming communities online to connect to their customers.

In such an age, I see social media as the new marketing battlefield & to win over existing & prospective customers you have to be active in it. This is my belief.

Now you may have a similar belief or a diametrically opposite one, but the learning I am trying to drive here is that synchronize the investment in this form of media with your belief.